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The Museum
of Road Signs and Signals
and street lighting
Exhibition
European Heritage Days
September 2024
The European Heritage Days in Trooz were once again the result of a concerted effort by the various players involved to offer visitors a range of unusual activities.
The Commune, the Syndicat d'Initiative, the Maison de la Laïcité de Trooz and the MuSé asbl combined their efforts to create two original days. Meetings and exchanges were necessary several months in advance to finalise the event. This year, the listed site of La Fenderie and the town devastated by the floods in July 2021 have been chosen to welcome our visitors. But the Heritage Days in Trooz were not limited to this site, as the Radio Museum housed in Trooz's superb railway station and the Church of Sainte-Catherine de Forêt were also open to the public. And let's not forget the coach tour, with its highly interesting guide and commentary, which enabled many to discover the past of our commune through, for example, the facades of the houses that line our streets.
But let's take a look at what happened on the Fenderie site, where the MuSé and its team deployed their ideas...
1. Preparing the site:
In agreement with the Commune of Trooz, the MuSé has taken over the two roads in the Fenderie district. The aim was to prepare the road markings (horizontal signs) required for one of the Heritage Days activities.
The work began in March 2024 with a site survey. As a result, yellow markers appeared on the ground prior to the major road marking work.
The road marking work was carried out at the beginning of August 2024. The highly unstable weather conditions in the summer of 2024 meant that the work had to be scheduled well in advance. Dry weather? Let's get to work! We're more than a month ahead of schedule for the painting work. The first step was to make the stencils from a pond liner.
On site, the areas to be painted had to be carefully cleaned up, using brooms, elbow grease and blowers.
And off we went for two half-days of work in dry, sunny, hot weather. White facade latex was chosen for the road markings. Although this road is a one-way street, it can still be used by road users. As a result, temporary markings using cones and half-pavement work were put in place.
Special markings (shark's teeth, cyclist crossings, pedestrian crossings, white stop lines) were made using stencils. The transverse lines were painted using a paint roller.
The work is finished... All that's left to do now is keep an eye on the results.
2. One week before the event:
The week leading up to the Heritage Days was used to coordinate the activities of the MuSé and the Trooz Municipal Works Department. Although the site has been abandoned for the last three years, we found very few illegal dumps. Nevertheless, these were managed by the municipal services, which had mobilised considerable resources!
The MuSé, for its part, used traffic cones and street markers to make certain tricky spots safer.
Finally, a police order prohibits access to the site, as well as stopping and parking in the immediate vicinity.
3. We are just a few hours away from the start of the demonstrations:
Testing and adjusting the lighting at Château de la Fenderie. Florent is in charge.
Florent, Xavier and Michel are coordinating the installation of illuminated signs on the terrace of the Maison de la Laïcité.
Pierre-Alain is preparing the exhibition of wall photos. Robin is in charge of translating the commentaries, which are presented in French and Dutch.
Pierre-Alain arranges the display of traffic signs before regionalisation and then according to the Walloon, Brussels and Flemish regions. The tables in the background are prepared to receive the lighting fixtures loaned by ‘The Lights of Belgium’, dedicated to the Schréder group and commented on by Dominique and Nathan.
Preparing the site for the cité de la Fenderie. Pierre-Alain and Robin are in charge of this task. In addition to the reception area, all the equipment on the roads has to be installed.
4. Here we are, the big day has arrived:
At the Maison de la Laïcité, visitors had the opportunity to discover photos, some of them very old, with historical features on public lighting and signage. The Belgian lights in ‘The Lights of Belgium’ stood out, some of them quite remarkable once they were switched on. The exhibition of Belgian road signs from the 1970s to the present day did not go unnoticed either.
There's nothing like a good story to captivate visitors... Here, the story of light signals illuminated by incandescent bulbs:
Saturday night was devoted to the inauguration of the brand new terrace at the Maison de la Laïcité. The MuSé was responsible for the lighting decoration of the site, including some beautiful illuminated signals that were brought back into service for the occasion.
Visitors also enjoyed the light show on the castle and the entertainment prepared in the old forge: sound effects, lights and smoke were all on the programme. The presence of the Impéria car in the courtyard made for some very fine photos.
Visitors to the Cité de la Fenderie were given the chance to discover eight surprising riddles and to trace missing traffic signs. These fun activities were a big hit with children, adults and families alike. Congratulations to all those who succeeded in tracing our lost traffic signs!
5. Time to dismantle and pack up:
All good things must come to an end, so it's time to dismantle and carefully store the equipment. Once again, it was a well-coordinated team effort that ensured that this stage of the process went off without a hitch. Mission accomplished.
6. MuSé asbl, a team:
Robin
Florent, Pierre-Alain, Dominique, Nathan and Robin
Dominique et Florent
Michel and Xavier
See you next year!
Pierre-Alain
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